Fearless Rose demonstrates a Tiger's touch

Woods takes back seat as 21-year-old Briton takes tournament by storm to trail leaders Waldorf, Toms and Pettersson by one stroke

The only thing more densely packed than the rough here was the leaderboard after the opening round of the 131st Open Championship yesterday. Yet one name stood out. Justin Rose did not lead but in compiling a round of 68 alongside the world No 1 and overwhelming favourite, Tiger Woods, the 21-year-old exuded a confidence and class only hinted at by his extraordinary amateur performance at Birkdale four years ago.

With the proviso that it was only one round, and round one, Rose outscored Woods by two strokes and matched the effort of their Japanese playing partner, Shigeki Maruyama.

Rose and Maruyama were among a number on three under par, one behind the three co-leaders, Carl Pettersson, the US-based Swede, who would have claimed the lead outright but for a bogey on the last, and the Americans David Toms, the reigning USPGA champion, and Duffy Waldorf. Phil Mickelson, with birdies on the last two holes, was also on three under, along with Thomas Bjorn, and the elder statesmen, Sandy Lyle, Nick Price and Des Smyth.

While the question of why no one scored better on a rare day of sunshine and virtually no wind occupied most of the afternoon, earlier the attention was on an intriguing three-ball containing a player seeking the third leg of a unique Grand Slam, the player with the biggest smile in golf and a youngster just coming into bloom on the world stage.

"He certainly has the talent," Woods said of Rose's chances of adding to his four wins this season. "If he executes his shots the way he has been, he'll be fine." Bjorn went further. "You're talking about one of the biggest talents that the game has ever seen," said the Dane. "He has a great mind. A lot of guys, being English at the British Open playing with Tiger, would have been scared. He went through a rough time but that's why he is the player he is today."

Rose missed 21 cuts in a row after turning professional, but has developed rapidly over the last two years. "I guess when I was going through my low point, it would have been a long road back to this point. It would have seemed like a mountain to climb. I put in a lot of hard work." Asked if he felt like the youngest player in the field, or a battle-hardened professional, Rose went for the latter.

Rose was glad to have made his friends a bit of money by sharing the lowest score in the three-ball but otherwise was not getting carried away. "Outscoring Tiger today doesn't mean anything for the rest of the tournament," he said. "I'm happy with the score and it's a nice position to be in after day one. Day two is all about jostling for position and getting your name on that big yellow leaderboard come the weekend."

It was immediately apparent that Rose was going to be inspired by the situation than overawed. While Woods had to scramble for a par at the first after finding the rough off the tee, Rose made a confident par and then made birdies at the next two. "I was more nervous than I have been all year on the first tee, but I nailed a two-iron down the fairway and that settled my nerves quickly," he said.

"I didn't know exactly how I was going to react but I knew I had the ability to cope with it," Rose added. "There is definitely an aura about Tiger and the first time you play with him it is a bit of an eye-opener. But I didn't get caught up in watching him or all the stuff that goes on around him. I focused on my own game and realised playing in the Open Championship was more important than playing with Tiger. The atmosphere reminded me a bit of Birkdale. Walking up the 18th I felt it was a really good reception." The highlight of his round came at the par-five ninth. Rose hit a four-iron from 244 yards to five feet past the hole, the ball almost going in for a two. He holed the eagle putt to be out in four under, as was Maruyama, though both dropped a shot coming home. Woods plodded his way round as if he could not score any worse and yet was still under par.

Should the weather turn as forecasted, with rain today and wind over the weekend, Woods will hope to improve while others retreat. "I knew I had to take advantage of a perfect day in Scotland," said Toms. "Especially when we don't know what it is going to be like for the next few days."

Much of the golf yesterday was of the cautious variety. "Mostly it was a boring round," Toms admitted. "Find the fairway, the green and two-putt." Despite the lack of any challenge in the conditions, players still appeared intimidated by the golfbag-high rough. The argument that the ancient links had not been overtaken by technology appeared to be proved, though the hole locations were tucked away in the most awkward corners of the greens. Some realised it was an opportunity missed, including Colin Montgomerie after his 74. "This isn't live, is it?" he said angrily to a radio interviewer. "Good, because let's stop it right there. It wasn't a difficult day. The conditions were easy."

Though it was thought that Muirfield would allow more people to get into contention than at the US Open at Bethpage last month, there are limits. "Someone like Duffy Waldorf will not win here," wrote one journalist this week. "He may be right," the American replied when told of the less than flattering prediction. "He didn't say I couldn't lead the Open."

Waldorf, whose first experience of links golf came at the British Amateur at Dornoch almost two decades ago, did not drop a shot and came home in 32. His aim was to hit all the fairways, but when he found himself in the rough at the 14th he hit a seven-iron to 12 inches.

A long career has brought only two top-10 finishes in major championships and he admitted that qualifying with a fifth place at the Western Open two weeks ago had not been on his mind. "If I had been thinking about it I would have had no chance," he said. He is a man content with his station in life. "If I had to rate my career on how many wins I have and how I do in tournaments, I would probably be a pretty unhappy guy.

"I don't look at it that way. I enjoy playing and coming to great courses like this. If I can keep my game going, I'll be happy no matter where I finish, be it 15th, 30th, 80th or first. "